1/02/2013 09:14:00 pm -
Reported by
Marcus

Doctor Who: The Snowmen had a final official audience of 9.87 million viewers, according to figures released by the BBC.

The consolidated figure includes those who recorded the programme and watched it within seven days, and is a substantial increase on the initial overnight figure. It makes Doctor Who the fourth most-watched programme of Christmas Day, edging ahead of the Christmas Strictly Come Dancing, which beat Doctor Who in the overnights but lost out in the final figures.

Top of the list was EastEnders, with 11.3 million watching, followed by Call the Midwife, which overtook Doctor Who in the final figures, and The Royle Family.

Coronation Street was the highest-rated programme on ITV1, just failing to reach the heights of The Snowmen and coming fifth in the Top Ten list. Figures do not include the +1 channels, which will bring Coronation Street back above Doctor Who in the weekly BARB figures. Doctor Who also achieved a greater number of viewers than Downton Abbey, ITV1's flagship drama.

The viewing figures are lower than in recent years, where Doctor Who was transmitted in a later timeslot, but higher than the 2005 and 2006 Christmas specials.

Overall in 2012 Doctor Who had an average rating of 8.28 million viewers, higher than last year's figure of 7.75 million.

The BBC also reports that, so far, over 1.46 million have accessed the episode on BBC iPlayer.